Rivals hit Gingrich on immigration

The former House speaker diverged from his rivals in the Republican presidential field Tuesday, declining to say that he would support the deportation of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in America.

Story Continued Below

“I don’t see how the, the party that says it’s the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter-century,” he said Tuesday. “And I’m prepared to take the heat for saying, ‘Let’s be humane in enforcing the law without giving them citizenship but by finding a way to create legality so they are not separated by their families.’”

Just a day after Gingrich told a New Hampshire crowd that he was the standout debate performer in the Republican field, his fellow GOP candidates were quickly seizing on the immigration position he articulated Tuesday night, charging that he is out of step with the conservative base.

It’s not the first time a candidate has suggested a moderate stance on immigration during a GOP debate, and paid the price. The lightning rod issue also caused problems for Texas Gov. Perry, who is still answering for a statement he made during a late September debate in which he said Republicans who disagree with a Texas law allowing undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition “don’t have a heart.”

Gingrich’s opponents jumped at the chance to exploit his statements.

Before the candidates left the Washington debate stage, Michele Bachmann’s campaign blasted out an email declaring that, while speaker, Gingrich “ultimately failed to secure the border or significantly staunch the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States. In fact, he helped legalize hundreds of thousands.”

Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart, in an interview following the debate, doubled down on that criticism.

“Speaker Gingrich [showed] he’s wrong on the issue of immigration and amnesty’s not the way to deal with it,” she said. “Amnesty is certainly not the way to go about doing it.”

An adviser to Mitt Romney, who has drilled Perry for weeks on immigration, said Gingrich did himself no favors, particularly in socially conservative Iowa, where the first caucuses will be held.

“Gingrich really hurt himself in Iowa on immigration,” said Romney adviser Ron Kaufman.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom also played up Gingrich’s comments, seeking to draw a clear contrast between Gingrich and Romney.

“Mitt Romney is against amnesty, and Newt Gingrich made it very clear he supported amnesty,” he said.

Gingrich was first asked by debate moderator Wolf Blitzer what he would do as president “with these millions of illegal immigrants, many of whom have been in this country for a long time.”

Gingrich said he favors a “comprehensive approach that starts with controlling the border.”

“I believe ultimately you have to find some system. Once you’ve put every piece in place, which includes the guest-worker program, you need something like a World War II Selective Service Board that, frankly, reviews the people who are here,” he said. Gingrich emphasized that those in the country illegally who nevertheless had deep ties to the community and paid taxes deserved a path toward citizenship.